The Ultimate Guide to Designing & Building Your Forever Home

The Ultimate Guide to Designing & Building Your Forever Home

Creating your own home can be an exciting but daunting prospect. With so many decisions to make, from selecting your block of land right down to choosing interior features, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start.

But with an experienced builder on-board, there’s no need for it all to feel overwhelming. To make this process enjoyable and stress-free, there are a few factors you may like to consider before you get started.

What does a forever home mean to you? 

Before you begin your project, sit and make a list of what your forever home looks like. This is something different to everybody, so it’s important to make sure the house works for you.

Note down all the features and functionalities that are important to you, taking into consideration not only your current lifestyle, but what it may look like in the future. For longevity, steer away from trends and opt for more timeless design features that won’t age quickly.

Establish a budget

As with any build, it’s important to establish a budget upfront and what is possible to achieve within it. With a forever home, it might be tempting to get carried away on certain aspects, resulting in a stressful financial situation.

The best way to avoid budget blowout is to engage a builder as soon as possible – preferably when you are drawing up plans with your architect. Whilst a designer can create an incredible home on paper, builders are across the cost of materials and potential technical limitations, making them an important part of this initial planning stage.

Choose an experience builder

To ensure years of stress-free enjoyment out of your home, you’ll need to make sure it’s built to last. This means engaging a highly-experienced builder who won’t take any shortcuts in the construction of your property, which can lead to costly maintenance and refits further down the track. Similarly, choose the finest quality materials you can afford for added longevity.

Think of the future 

While you can create the house you want right now, if you’re planning on living in your home for years to come, it’s also important to future-proof it.

Sustainability is increasing becoming less of an option and more of a prerequisite, so features such as double glazing on the windows, good insulation and solar panels are all wise choices to make your property more eco-friendly over the coming years.

Are you planning to stay in this property into your retirement? If so, accessibility is something to consider, like making the property easy to navigate with limited staircases and installing adaptable bathrooms.

Consider an existing house plan or house and land package 

If the thought of creating your home from scratch feels like a daunting prospect, you might like to opt for an existing house plan or house and land package.

Building from an existing plan means selecting a house layout from a selection of master plans. While some builders may not allow you to defer from the set plans, Achieve Homes offers a range of customisable features that means you can adapt the design to your preferences.

Another way to make the overall process more seamless is to choose a combined house and land package. This means that your builder will have selected and vetted the block of land in preparation for building, taking away the stress of having to find a plot and have it analysed for suitability.

Ready to start your forever home journey? Give us a call on 1300 234 432 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of our friendly team will get in touch.